I don’t know a heck of a lot about car engineering so it has been easy for me to say “hey Detroit, can’t you just build a car that gets 100 miles per gallon and better yet, doesn’t pollute?” This plaintiff cry is powered by multiple clichés including “ignorance is bliss” and “if there’s a will there’s a way.” Well, dag nabbit, it looks like those dern Germans have figured out how to make a car, a luxury car for that matter, that runs on hydrogen and emits little more than water.
I learned about this BMW initiative from MediaPost:
BMW launched a TV spot
promoting its yet unavailable BMW Hydrogen car. The spot broke on
Saturday at the BMW Championship in Chicago. The car produces water
rather than carbon dioxide, and the spot morphs a stream of water
into a BMW. “A car that will leave its mark without leaving a mark,”
concludes the voiceover as the water-made car vanishes as quickly as
it appeared.
The commercial, by the way, is quite intriguing and got me to visit their website which outlined all of BMW’s eco-initiatives which they call “EfficientDynamics.” These include ValveTronics (more efficient engines), Advanced Diesel (cleaner engines) and Hydrogen. The BMW Hydrogen 7 is designed as a hybrid so it can also run on gasoline. Here’s the scoop from AutoBlogGreen:
The car is touted as the first hydrogen-drive luxury performance
automobile for everyday use. The BMW Hydrogen 7 will be built in a
limited series, and sold to select customers in the U.S. and
overseas in 2007… The ability to run on both gasoline and hydrogen
gives the Hydrogen 7 a range of more than 400 miles. The high tech
hydrogen storage tank has a capacity of approximately 17.6 lb of
liquid hydrogen, giving the Hydrogen 7 a cruising range in hydrogen
mode upwards of 125 miles. [Source: BMW, full press release. Also,
see more pictures of the Hydrogen 7 here]
Don’t let the fact that there are no hydrogen filling stations in the US today deter you from thinking that this is a pretty cool idea. Here’s what BMW says about that:
Determined to bring the power of hydrogen to the world, our
initiative goes far beyond the vehicle itself. We are already
collaborating with a wide range of dedicated partners, from global
fuel distributors and fuel technology companies to government
agencies and environmental groups. Today in Germany, there are five
liquid hydrogen refueling stations – and soon there will be two in
the US. Developed with Linde AG, they are virtually as easy to use
as normal gasoline pumps.
All I can say is good for BMW for taking the initiative with hydrogen. Nay sayers can probably come up will 100 good reasons why this particular solution to global warming will never work. And maybe it won’t but remember these famous predictions:
* “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” –Charles H.
Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
* “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” –H.M. Warner, Warner
Brothers, 1927.
* “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
–Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
* “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
–Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment
Corp., 1977
You get the idea.